GREEN BAY, WI - To hear Rep. Nygren tell it you would think Governor Evers’ budget should be dismissed because it isn’t Republican enough. In truth Governor Evers’ budget is a responsible budget, moderate in its approach and reasonable in its effort to work for all of the people, not just corporations and the wealthy.

Under Walker and the Republicans, the state budget grew by leaps and bounds. Yet we saw embarrassingly little progress on fixing our roads, lowering health insurance costs, or dealing with the public school funding crisis. Despite controlling all branches of state government, Republicans also failed to deliver on Walker’s promise to create 250,000 jobs.

They did, however, cut billions in taxes for corporations and the rich and while committing over $3 billion of your tax dollars to Foxconn which so far has failed to live up to any of its promises. They also rolled back important environmental protections that protect our air and water and managed to drive down wages for workers by opposing any effort to increase the minimum wage and by repealing the law that would help close the gap in pay between women and men.

For those who like to cry socialism anytime someone suggests ideas to help low-income and middle-class families improve their standard of living, it’s easy to suggest that dependence on government is the problem while ignoring that it’s nearly impossible to raise a family on Wisconsin’s minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

So it should come as no surprise that our new governor has a lot on his plate.

When he campaigned for governor, Tony Evers did so on some very basic but important promises: Get our fair share of federal MA funding to expand and lower the cost of health insurance.

As governor, Scott Walker refused to take our share of federal MA money because he was running for president. Now that he’s gone we should accept the MA money. Doing so would bring back hundreds of millions of our federal tax dollars making it possible to help families who earn too much to qualify for BadgerCare but not enough to afford their own health insurance. Unfortunately, Republicans in Madison are still opposed.

Close loopholes that help the rich and corporations and provide a real middle-class tax cut.

The Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit has done nothing to create jobs but has been very good at taking money out of everyone else’s pockets and giving it to a bunch of rich billionaires and millionaires, many of whom also happen to donate to Republican campaigns. Under the M&A credit billionaires like Diane Hendricks get a check from the state each year averaging $2 million.

Governor Evers’ budget leaves the Agricultural Tax Credit in place but ends the handouts to the billionaires and millionaires, using the savings to cut taxes for the middle class.

Save our public schools.

Under Walker, the Republicans cut over $1 billion from our public schools. Governor Evers is committed to restoring that funding. Unfortunately, Rep. Nygren and the Republicans seem willing to accept “failing schools” as the status quo in our state, instead preferring to subsidize a second, unaccountable private school system with taxpayer dollars.

Fix our roads and highways.

No one wants to raise taxes. But after eight years of neglect and borrowing to the point that nearly 25 cents of every dollar raised for transportation goes to pay debt rather than fix our roads, something needs to be done. In a truly bi-partisan, Governor Evers adopted part of a Republican plan that Rep. Nygren himself supported but which Republicans now oppose.

This is just the beginning of the budget process. But if the Republicans’ lame duck session and their actions since are any indication of what’s to come it is going to be a very long process indeed. After eight years of neglect, the voters said it was time for a change. It’s past time for Rep. Nygren and the Republicans to admit this fact and start working with Governor Evers for the good of all the people of our state, not just their wealthy friends.

]]>sen.hansen@legis.wi.gov (Dave Hansen, State Senator Dist 30)WisconsinSun, 31 Mar 2019 17:10:23 +0000Republicans Attempt to Turn Back the Clock, But There is More Work to Dohttp://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=767&Itemid=63
http://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=767&Itemid=63Thanks to a lot of hard work we have a new Governor, Attorney General and State Treasurer, we won the statewide vote, but gerrymandering has left the GOP in control of the legislature. No time to waste feeling bad, the next major election is upon us.

GREEN BAY, WI - On November 6th the voters chose real change for our state after 8 years of Governor Walker and the Republican agenda.

It was part of one of the biggest electoral waves in our nation’s history.

In congress Democrats are poised to pick up 40 seats in the house. That is the 3rd largest gain in recent history, second only to the Republicans gains in 2010 and 2014.

But it was the biggest margin of victory in total votes in any mid-term election in history. Democrats received over 9 million more votes than Republicans and the 8.1% percent margin is bigger than any recent midterm including the GOP wins of 1994, 2010 and 2014. It even surpassed the Democrats’ wave in 2006.

And it all came in a mid-term election in which turnout itself was historic. In Wisconsin nearly 2.7 million people, or 60% of registered voters turned out. According to the New York Times, approximately 114 million votes were cast in U.S. House races in 2018, compared to 83 million in 2014. That compares to just 36.7 percent in 2014, and 41 percent in 2010.

So what votes in Wisconsin accomplished is truly impressive. Thanks to a lot of hard work we have a new Governor, new Attorney General and new State Treasurer. We should all be happy and proud of that.

So it is naturally disappointing that soon-to-be former Governor Scott Walker (Did I mention he lost?) and the Republicans in the Legislature once again showed their true colors by using a lame duck session Tuesday night to strip power from Governor-elect Evers and Attorney General-elect Kaul. Their actions are repugnant and a slap in the face not only to the majority of voters who chose a new, more progressive direction for our state, but to the spirit of democracy and the peaceful transition of power as well.

I’ve spoken to people who are disheartened by this. Especially after all the hard work leading up to the lame duck session making calls, sending emails and helping organize others to do the same to try to stop them from their egregious assault on our state’s valued democratic traditions.

And while I, too, am angry and frustrated I am also happy and proud at the effort made by those who stood up to Walker and the Republicans. You might not realize it but your voices made a difference.

A day after Tony Evers was elected Republican Speaker Robin Vos vowed to limit his veto authority. There were rumors that they would try to eliminate the ability Governor’s to veto any unfair maps the GOP produces during redistricting (an issue very close to my heart!). They were even talking about moving the 2020 presidential primary in order to protect Dan Kelly, a Republican justice on the State Supreme Court who is coming up for reelection.

But none of that happened. And even though changes to other bills were minor, your efforts caused them great concern. We were supposed to go to the floor to debate their schemes at 11:00 a.m. that morning. 17 hours later we were still waiting for the Republicans to quit arguing amongst themselves and come back to the floor.

One of the results was their failure to pass a bill they claimed would protect people with pre-existing conditions if their lawsuit to end the Affordable Care Act is successful. But, it was a bill in name only that would not only not provide any real protection, it would also increase insurance premiums on everyone else.

That in and of itself is a major victory that everyone who saw through their charade can be proud in having helped stop.

Progressives and anyone who wants to see our state truly move forward should appreciate the fact that things are changing. Your voice really does make a difference, both at the ballot box and during the legislative process.

But we’re not done yet. The next major election is upon us. It is the election to fill the Supreme Court seat of retiring Justice Shirley Abrahamson. She is truly one of the great jurists in our state’s history and possibly the nation. She will be sorely missed, but in April we will have the chance to elect her successor.

And in 2020 we will have the chance to finally end Republican control of the State Supreme Court.

But, it all starts now. There is no time to waste feeling bad about what happened at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Instead we should recognize that our voices and efforts can and have made and get to work making Justice Abrahamson proud by making sure her replacement lives up to the high standards she set for the Court.

]]>sen.hansen@legis.wi.gov (Dave Hansen, State Senator Dist 30)WisconsinFri, 07 Dec 2018 18:25:09 +0000Governor Walker’s Foxconn Bait-and-Switchhttp://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=746&Itemid=63
http://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=746&Itemid=63As Foxconn pulls the classic bait-and-switch on jobs and commitment to Wisconsin, the people are stuck with a deal that will cost everyone for 25 more years. Is Walker's big deal turning into just another empty election year promise?

GREEN BAY, WI - Since Governor Walker’s initial announcement of the Foxconn deal he has been promising it will create 13,000 jobs.

But anyone who remembers his promise back in 2010 to create 250,000 jobs during his first term in office knows to take such promises with a large grain of salt.

The same day that Walker made his promise of 13,000 new jobs, Foxconn’s owner Terry Gau would only commit to creating 3,000 jobs and even President Trump said 3,000 jobs would be initially created.

Since that time the Foxconn project has been a moving target with Foxconn officials recently admitting that they now plan to build a much smaller plant less than half the size of the original and one that will require far fewer workers.

That number is likely to become even smaller now that Foxconn admitted what many of us already said would happen: that most of the assembly and production jobs will not be done by people. Foxconn executive Louis Woo admitted as much when he said it’s more likely that Foxconn will only hire 2,000 workers initially and that the majority of the assembly jobs will be done by robots.

The impact on other state businesses is now a question mark as well since Foxconn also recently announced they will go to businesses in other states for the parts and materials they need.

The one thing that does seem consistent here, though, is that the people of Wisconsin will be paying off this boondoggle for a good part of their lives.

In fact, even if Foxconn doesn’t hire a single employee, it can still reap up to $1 billion or more in public assistance including: $764 million in local property tax subsidies, $164 million in new state and local roads for Foxconn at the expense of our own local roads and highways, $120 million for a new electric line that will be paid for by utility customers who may have no connection to Foxconn whatsoever, a $139 million sales tax exemption for building materials, and $15 million in state grants to help local governments pay for Foxconn.

It’s been estimated that the Foxconn deal could cost every man, woman and child $500 or more and that taxpayers won’t see their money returned in full until at least 2043 and possibly later.

Governor Walker and Republicans are fond of saying that “you know how to spend your money better than the government does.” Except, of course, when they’re doing favors for their corporate friends. In this case they’ve decided that billions of your and your children’s money is better given to a foreign billionaire than used to feed your family, pay your rent, put toward your health insurance or invest in your local schools and roads.

Given Foxconn’s ever-changing stories, their past history of making big promises only to renege on them, and the Governor’s own issues with the truth, it’s time to call the Foxconn deal what it is, a classic bait-and-switch that is harmful to taxpayers and that will do nothing to help the vast majority of struggling families and communities around the state.

]]>sen.hansen@legis.wi.gov (Dave Hansen, State Senator Dist 30)WisconsinSun, 09 Sep 2018 01:52:20 +0000State of the State Addresshttp://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=680&Itemid=63
http://newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=680&Itemid=63Gov. Walker can spin his record anyway he wants, but is more spin what we really needed?

GREEN BAY - The Governor’s latest series of flip flops on health care, education and the lack of jobs in our rural communities just shows how desperate he is about his chances in the upcoming election.

Not that long ago he took President Trump’s side in supporting the ability of insurance companies to deny people with preexisting conditions.

In his first term he inflicted the biggest cut to our public schools in our state’s history—costing many of our schools some of their best teachers and forcing local school districts to beg taxpayers for enough money to keep the lights on.

And offering $50 million to rural communities in north and western Wisconsin is a pittance compared to the $4 billion he is giving to a Taiwanese billionaire to help create jobs for people living in northern Illinois.

Governor Walker has also failed to keep his promise to create 250,000 jobs. He has failed to take responsibility for driving our transportation system into the ditch, and he has signed into law some of the most egregious corporate attacks on our environmental protections that will lead to more of our wetlands being lost and more of our lakes, streams and drinking water being polluted.

And, despite his claims to the contrary, Governor Walker has still done absolutely nothing to lower student loan payments for the over 800,000 people in this state who are struggling under the weight of high cost student loans.

Governor Walker can spin his record anyway he wants, but as we have seen around the country and in western Wisconsin, the people want change. And next fall they will have the ultimate say on whether his speech today was a success.

GREEN BAY - Adam Jarchow lost in Tuesday’s senate election in part because he and his Republican friends chose to attack struggling families.

Despite voters’ rejection of these types of attacks, Governor Walker sees them as his opportunity to excite his supporters and shift their attention away from the fact that he, President Trump and Republicans in Madison and Congress have failed to help improve their lives.

Instead of giving a Taiwanese billionaire over $4 billion that will do little to help the vast majority of people in this state, a more informed governor might have decided instead to invest that money into our own families, businesses, schools and roads all across the state.

Now, seeing that his reelection ploy is not working, he is trying to divert the people’s attention by calling a special session to wage new attacks on working families and the poor.

Governor Walker’s call for a special session is another sign that he and legislative Republicans are running scared. It is a transparently political move that is just another reason so many people are voting for real change in Wisconsin and around the country.